Pasta Fagioli

Well, after not really getting sick for two years, I’ve been hit with a whopper of a cold, in the middle of a July heat and humidity wave, no less. Regardless of the heat, what do most people crave when they’re buried under blankets on the couch all day (assuming there is central A/C involved)? Soup! And so soup is what I made tonight, and let me tell you – it soothed me just as I hoped it would. Pasta Fagioli reminds me of a small little cafe on the campus of my college (which I attended all too long ago) – I always used to stop there if I had a night class and get a cup of pasta fagioli. This soup is the ultimate in comfort – full, hearty, and paired with the garlic herb breadsticks I made, totally deserving of being a complete meal.

The original recipe for this soup called for ground beef, but I thought the Italian sausage would kick up the flavor a bit, and really, as an Italian, when is Italian sausage NOT a good alternative for beef? Right, never. I did the sauteed combination of onions, garlic, carrots, and celery as I usually find this imparts a large amount of flavor in broth-based soups. You’ll also find this method used in my Italian Wedding Soup and Beef Barley Soup. This recipe makes a tremendous amount of soup; it almost filled up my 8qt stock pot, so be prepared to have soup for a few days (which sounds good to me right now because I’m sick), freeze the leftovers, or scale down the recipe.

Directions:

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat, and brown the sausage, crumbling it as it cooks. Once brown, remove sausage from pot with a slotted spoon and discard any grease that remains in the pot.

2. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pot, and add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery, and saute over medium heat until vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add sausage back to the pot, add the can of diced tomatoes (do not drain), stir briefly, and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the beans, and add the beef broth and tomato sauce. Add in all of the seasonings, stir well, turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it boils, turn down to low heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

4. Add the dry pasta and continue to simmer on low for another 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite bread or crackers.

Well. slap me senseless!!! I too am of Italian descent and it has never occurred to me to use sausage in my Pasta Fagioli. That has now changed!!!!
Sorry you are dealing with your first old in two years during the summer months but I am pleased it caused you to make soup!!!!!
Certainly hope you are feeling well soon!!!!

I hope you’re feeling better! This soup looks really great and Francis can never turn down anything with pasta in it, I can’t wait until it drops below 90 degrees here to make this (without the meat though so I can eat it too)!

Chelle-
I had to let you know that after a year and a half (looking at my last comment), this is still one of my go-to soup recipes. I usually make a bunch and freeze it. I made several freezable servings for my parents recently when my mom was undergoing chemo. She’s doing okay, but her appetite is not that great….HOWEVER, my dad said the soup is the only thing she will eat A LOT of. Just wanted to pass along my thanks!
-Cheryl

This looks fabulous, and it’s going in my soup file. I love big soup recipes. I normally double my recipes and freeze several more servings in a disposable tupperware bowl. It’s wonderful to have extras – I can use them for a quick meal, or to pass along to a sick friend. Thanks for the recipe!

Great looking recipe – I’ve created my own over the years and love the Italian sausage idea. I’ll be stealing it!
One helpful tip: I find that cooking the pasta separately and adding it to each bowl as you serve works best if you expect to have leftovers. This way the pasta doesn’t expand & get mushy sitting in the refrigerator.
Cheers & Happy New Year!

I made this recipe last night and it turned out amazing! My 3 year old daughter enjoyed this immensely. It sure does make a heck of a lot soup, we froze a ton and gave some away as well. This has always been a favorite soup of mine and it never occured to me to make it at home until I stumbled across this recipe. The sausage makes all the difference too, I’m use to this dish being made with ground hamburger. I love love loved it! Thanks for another great recipe.. now I’m on to making the “S’more stuffed chocolate chip cookies”! Yum!

Wow!! Made this tonite (used ground beef…no Italian sausage in fridge) and it was delicious! Really great flavor and makes a huge pot of soup. Thanks so much for the recipe. Will definitely be making it again!!